Abstract:With the development of multi-dimensional light field modulation, high-sensitivity electro-optical detection and new materials technologies, the information acquisition capabilities of traditional electro-optical reconnaissance (EOR) systems have made significant progress. However, the EOR systems still face new challenges including the detection accuracy, information acquisition dimensions, and reliability in the increasingly intelligent and complex information-domain operations. In this paper, the function mechanisms of the multi-dimensional physical quantities of light field were analyzed in EOR operations. The light field mody-lation developments and capabilities were studied including the amplitude, transmission direction, frequency, phase, and coherence. The important role of typical optical devices were introduced in the light field modulation. The EOR technology development status was analyzed, and bottleneck issues were summarized. Finally, development trends of EOR were prospected consisting of artificial intelligence empowerment, integration, all optical-band dynamic EOR and active multispectral detection modes.